New occasions for champagne: overview
- Tavern’s canned Champagne cocktail range sold out on day one at Cannes Lions, highlighting interest in premium RTD formats.
- RTDs could help Champagne reach new drinking occasions beyond traditional celebrations and bottle service.
- The UK RTD market remains underdeveloped, suggesting room for future growth and innovation.
- Maintaining Champagne’s premium image will be critical, particularly in convenient canned formats.
- The key challenge is whether Champagne RTDs can drive repeat purchases, not just event-led curiosity.
Champagne may be synonymous with celebration, but could the category find new drinking occasions in a can?
Tavern is exploring this through Cannes Royale, a range of five Champagne cocktails developed for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Packaged in 222ml cans, the drinks were designed for the festival’s social setting, allowing attendees to enjoy a single serve while moving between events, talks and parties.
The format proved popular at the event, with Tavern reporting that all 15 cases sold out on the first day.
While the launch was designed specifically for Cannes rather than as a strategy to recruit new Champagne consumers, it raises a wider question for suppliers: could ready-to-drink (RTD) formats bring Champagne into new occasions, or will they primarily appeal to consumers already familiar with the category?
Champagne looks beyond traditional occasions
Tavern’s launch comes against a mixed backdrop for the Champagne industry. According to Comité Champagne, global shipments fell by around 2% in 2025 to 266 million bottles, down from 271.4 million in 2024.
In the UK, shipments increased by 1.9% to 22.7 million bottles, while their value fell by 5.9% to €488.1m.
Although the figures do not establish why UK shipment value declined, they point to contrasting trends in volume and value within the market.
Cannes Royale was developed through Tavern Labs, the company’s internal brand development arm, specifically for the Cannes Lions festival. The team wanted to create something that felt distinctly French and suited to the South of France, choosing Champagne over rosé because of its celebratory associations.
The 222ml can was selected as a single-cocktail serve suited to daytime events, talks and parties, allowing attendees to enjoy a premium drink without opening a full bottle.
An opening for RTDs
The wider RTD market offers some context for the potential opportunity.
According to NielsenIQ (NIQ), RTDs account for just 0.9% of long alcoholic drinks and spirits spending in Britain, compared with 14% in Australia. NIQ estimates that increasing Britain’s share to 3.5% would generate an additional £645m in sales.
The figures suggest there is room for the category to develop in Britain, particularly in hospitality venues, where RTDs remain underrepresented.
NIQ’s BrandTrack research shows that RTD consumers skew towards younger adults, with 69% aged 18 to 34. Almost two-thirds (65%) drink in pubs, bars and restaurants weekly, spending an average of £154 per month in the on-trade, £39 more than the average consumer.
This audience could present opportunities for suppliers developing products around different drinking occasions.
Research from IWSR also points to continued growth in the wider category. Across 10 major markets, RTD volumes increased by 2% in 2024, while value rose by 4%. RTDs accounted for 3.5% of total beverage alcohol servings in those markets, up from 1.1% in 2014.
For Champagne suppliers, these figures provide a reason to explore new formats, but they do not guarantee that premium Champagne cocktails will generate sustained demand.
Can a can retain Champagne’s premium appeal?
Adapting Champagne for a ready-to-drink format also raises questions about how suppliers can maintain the quality and premium associations attached to the category.
French appellation rules require Champagne to undergo its second fermentation in the bottle, meaning it cannot simply be packaged as straight Champagne in a can. Using Champagne as an ingredient in cocktails offers one way to bring the protected wine into a different format.
Cannes Royale takes this approach, combining Champagne with French liqueurs and for the brand, ensuring the finished product lived up to its premium positioning was central to development.
“It couldn’t just be a fun can with Champagne in it. The ingredients needed to feel genuinely French, the flavours needed to work together, and the finished drink had to feel premium,” says Mike Perry, founder and chief creative officer of Tavern in New York.
“Something can sound incredibly French on paper but not necessarily taste good together.”
The approach reflects the challenge for suppliers seeking to combine convenience with premium positioning. While format and branding may attract attention, the liquid itself must deliver on consumers’ expectations.
Can RTD attract new Champagne drinkers?
While RTDs continue to gain share of beverage alcohol consumption, attracting new consumers is becoming more challenging as the category matures.
According to IWSR’s RTDs Strategic Study 2025, just 5% of RTD drinkers across its 10 key markets were new to the category in 2024. Instead, growth was increasingly driven by existing consumers drinking more frequently, particularly younger drinkers.
For Champagne cocktails, this raises the question of whether a new format can bring additional consumers into the category or simply offer existing drinkers another way to enjoy it.
Perry says making Champagne more accessible was not the original objective behind Cannes Royale.
“We weren’t setting out to solve a Champagne accessibility problem. We were trying to create a product that felt completely appropriate to Cannes and the South of France, but in a format people hadn’t seen before. That said, the end result naturally does remove some of the ceremony and commitment of opening a full bottle,” he says.
Tavern reports that all 15 cases brought to the Cannes activation sold out on the first day, with attendees returning for additional serves and asking where they could buy the product. While this suggests the concept resonated with the event’s audience, it does not establish whether demand would continue beyond Cannes or attract consumers who would not otherwise purchase Champagne.
For suppliers, the commercial opportunity will depend on whether such formats can move beyond event-led activations to generate repeat purchases and incremental demand, while retaining the quality and premium appeal associated with Champagne.
